{"id":163295,"date":"2022-05-13T06:00:00","date_gmt":"2022-05-13T11:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ict-pulse.com\/?p=163295"},"modified":"2022-05-12T20:51:57","modified_gmt":"2022-05-13T01:51:57","slug":"is-digital-media-killing-cable-subscriber-tv","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ict-pulse.com\/2022\/05\/is-digital-media-killing-cable-subscriber-tv\/","title":{"rendered":"Is digital media killing cable\/subscriber TV?\ufffc"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

From all reports, and thanks to digital media, cable\/subscriber TV subscriptions have been declining over the past few years, and there is some evidence that is also the case in the Caribbean region. We discuss reasons why digital media might be killing <\/em>cable\/subscriber TV.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Over the past two years, Netflix was a godsend to many. We had been spending more time indoors, and so had more time on our hands to binge-watch our favourite shows, along with movies that we had wanted to see, but couldn\u2019t find the time to do so when they were in theatres. However, this past April, Netflix released its 2022 first quarter earnings, in which it indicated it had lost 200,000 subscribers in Q1, bringing its subscriber base to 221.64 million. To others, a loss of 200,000 subscribers would have been a modest; but this was the first time in 10 years(!) the company had lost subscribers within a quarter. Moreover, Netflix has anticipated that it will lose another two million subscribers in Q2 (Source: Variety<\/a>).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The reasons for Netflix\u2019s contracting subscriber base are varied, but include increased competition due to the explosion in the number of streaming services now available, and a large proportion of households sharing accounts. However, Caribbean cable\/subscriber television (TV) services may also be experiencing a similar trend.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In The Bahamas, the Utilities Regulation and Competition Authority reported that pay TV subscriptions have steadily declined over the past five years, but the largest decrease was reported in 2021. Although it is likely that across the Caribbean region cable\/subscriber TV is experiencing a similar trend, many of the telecoms and broadcasting regulators do not track cable TV or subscriber TV subscriptions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Digital media versus traditional media trends<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Having said this, and noting how much content is available online, it would be no surprise if subscriber or cable TV subscriptions are also falling across the region. According Statista<\/a> and in the United States, \u201cIn 2020, adults in the U.S. spent an average of 470 minutes (seven hours and 50 minutes) with digital media each day. This figure marked an increase of 15 percent compared to the previous year, fueled by the onset of the pandemic<\/em>.\u201d In contrast, and in the same period, 2020, less than 350 minutes per day were consumed using analogue media and entertainment formats.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

With regard to \u2018digital media\u2019, it includes online video streaming (such as Netflix, YouTube, Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV), online audio (such as Spotify), social media, and gaming. On the  other hand, subscriber\/cable TV would be considered part of traditional or analogue media, which includes television, radio, newspapers, and magazines.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As noted earlier, the pandemic, especially in the initial stages when lockdowns and curfews had been implemented, drove the uptick in home media consumption. However, that level of consumption continued well into the summer of 2020, and digital media consumption is expected to continue to increase into the foreseeable future, with traditional media consumption decreasing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Reasons why cable\/subscriber TV may be declining<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

In the Caribbean region, an important reason behind the popularity of cable\/subscriber TV has been the limited coverage and declining quality of free-to-air broadcasting in many countries. Hence, if you want to view local TV channels, cable\/subscriber TV tends to offer better viewing quality than the free-to-air broadcast \u2013 if it exists. However, with more local TV broadcasters also making their content available over the internet, cable\/subscriber TV may longer be the only option to access that content.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Another important observation is with respect to the rates payable for cable\/subscriber TV packages vis-\u00e0-vis the channels included in those packages. A typical ploy used by service providers is to have very limited basic packages, and so in order to get what might be a more \u2018reasonable selection of TV channels\u2019, consumers would need to purchase a basic-plus or one of the more premium plan. However, invariably, most subscribers are only watching a handful of channel; although they might be paying for dozens or even over 100 channels. Ultimately, and based on the rates payable for these packages, it may no longer be worth it keep that subscription.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the Caribbean region, and based on anecdotal information, Netflix has become quite popular. However, YouTube \u2013 as another video streaming service \u2013 has eclipsed it considerably, and so is likely to be a key contributor to the loss of cable\/subscriber TV viewing time. In other words, although consumers might still have their cable\/subscriber TV subscriptions active, they may not be consuming much of that content, but instead have been relying more on YouTube, Netflix and social media for entertainment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Parting thoughts<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

In summary, and into the future, cable\/subscriber TV service is likely to become less attractive to consumers, due to price, plus the volume and diversity in the content that is now available over the internet. Further, and in being online, users can access that content from virtually anywhere, as opposed having to be at home to view traditional cable\/subscriber TV content. That location flexibility, along with the ability customise your viewing to suit your preferences and availability, are compelling advantages for digital media.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It must also be said that although there has been trend for subscriber TV channels to establish their own streaming platforms, based on Netflix\u2019s recent report and outlook, paid online streaming may no longer be as stable, and as poised for steady growth as it once was. However, whether their content is free and\/or paid, traditional subscriber TV channels may still opt to pursue digital media options, in order to improve their visibility and accessibility to consumers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Finally, we should not underestimate the impact of social media in the digital media consumption landscape. For example, in 2020 and in the United States, about 144 minutes per day was reportedly spent on social media (Source: Tech<\/a>J<\/a>ury<\/a>), which is about 30% of the time spent daily consuming digital media. However, other sources, such as Forbes<\/a>, suggest that social media consumption in 2020 may have been in the region of 210 minutes per day, or closer to 50% of daily digital media consumption.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Notwithstanding the source of the digital media, it is offering stiff competition to traditional media, and more so subscriber\/cable TV, which is not as agile to meet today\u2019s consumers\u2019 taste and behaviour. At this point, it is unclear whether cable\/subscriber TV will be killed off completely, but it is likely to never enjoy the popularity it once did.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Image credit:\u00a0 Erik Mclean (Unsplash<\/a>)<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

From all reports, and thanks to digital media, cable\/subscriber TV subscriptions have been declining over the past few years, and there is some evidence that is also the case in the Caribbean region. We discuss reasons why digital media might be killing cable\/subscriber TV.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":163297,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"off","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[11],"tags":[472,42,91,15,367],"class_list":["post-163295","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-ict-tech","tag-gaming","tag-social-media","tag-subscriber-tv","tag-trends","tag-video-on-demand","et-has-post-format-content","et_post_format-et-post-format-standard"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ict-pulse.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/cable-subscriber-TV-television-remote-control-Erik-Mclean-Unsplash.jpg?fit=1024%2C768&ssl=1","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p2iE1G-GtN","jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ict-pulse.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/163295"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ict-pulse.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ict-pulse.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ict-pulse.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ict-pulse.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=163295"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/ict-pulse.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/163295\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":163296,"href":"https:\/\/ict-pulse.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/163295\/revisions\/163296"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ict-pulse.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/163297"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ict-pulse.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=163295"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ict-pulse.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=163295"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ict-pulse.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=163295"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}